Cannes 2010: 'Carlos'

In December 1997, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez (here played by Edgar Ramirez) was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of two French intelligence officers over 20 years earlier. During the '70s, under the nom de guerre of Carlos, Sánchez became one of the best known figures in the world of international terrorism. Attaching himself to pro-Palestinian groups, the Japanese Red Army and German Revolutionary Cells, among others, Carlos preached and practised a violent path supposedly against the forces of capitalism and imperialism. This three-part TV biopic from Oliver Assayas clocks in at a full 5hr33min when combined for this Cannes release. To its credit, the minutes fly by, especially in the first two parts, which take in Carlos's first bungled operations and his daring hostage-taking raid on the OPEC headquarters.

The question of cinema glamourising real-life violence has been around since Bonnie And Clyde, and here we get beautiful characters in suits, shades and leather espousing the romanticism of revolution. Even given the real-life Carlos's undeniable charisma, surely there must have been one less-than-stunning female international terrorist among his ranks? As a moral counterweight though, the final third finds the once-untouchable Carlos overtaken by events. His fading health and the collapse of the Iron Curtain make him an unwanted irrelevance, his fall less dramatic than his rise but every bit as powerful. A character who at one point claims that we are all pawns of history later seems as out of place as a like a chess piece on a Monopoly board.

As a project, Carlos is some undertaking, and is an almost-spectacular success. What it does lack despite its length is any real sense of depth, as Carlos's actions are presented only with the narrow focus of his personality and immediate relationships with only the slightest references to a greater whole. But there's still a great sense of scope and the passing of time, a cracking soundtrack, and a truly stellar central performance from Ramirez.